The Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana, Professor Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, has condemned the practice of religious leaders using prophecies to influence electoral outcomes, labelling it as dubious and misleading.

Speaking at the recent 'Kronti ne Akwamu' lecture series on 'Religion and Liberal Democracy in the Fourth Republic', he stated that prophetic declarations naming specific candidates as winners undermine the democratic process and compromise the integrity of the electoral process.

"The involvement of certain so-called prophetic figures in our politics. I consider anybody who makes a prophetic statement that names anyone as the one likely to emerge a false prophet because democracy exists to allow citizens to independently make their minds. If you are a religious leader, you have a following. So, if you take a stance and cover it with prophetic utterance, I have every reason to believe that your prophecy is dubious. Let's allow democratic processes to work," he stated.

He urged religious leaders to allow their followers make informed choices, encouraging them to guide their congregations toward responsible citizenship without imposing personal political preferences.

"You can guide them to be responsible citizens. To vote rightly, to vote for constructive human values as I have said. But don't try to influence their votes by the so-called prophetic revelations. And we find similar things in the prophets in the book of Jeremiah, which I referred to in one of my interviews.

"Jeremiah 23, warns the prophets to be careful because they are given the prophecy according to their material needs and I think that kind of thing emerging in our country is wrong," he noted.

He further indicated that religious leaders who manipulate their followers ultimately betray the core values of Christianity.

"I will always speak against it in the strongest of terms, because faith is a good thing, and it must be used constructively and the pastors must know that if they misuse religion, they undermine the course of Christianity which then goes against their own values. And then we must be careful," he added.

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